MEDIC

Chapter 3. An Awkward Encounter

Edited 21/05/23 - fleshed chapter out more. Spelling and grammar changes.

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The following morning you awoke feeling relatively refreshed and eager to start your day.

You'd had a deep, dreamless sleep, too exhausted from your transfer the previous day for your brain to formulate any far fetched imagery through the night. You'd always had vivid dreams, dreams that felt real, you'd be able to smell, feel, taste. Every night your head would take you to a far away place, one night you could be slaying dragons and driving super cars way above your pay grade, other nights were a little more close to home, saving soldiers whose injures were so grievous you could swear you could smell the iron in their blood as it poured out onto your table.

You didn't care much for those kinds of dreams, you always ended up losing the poor soul you were tasked with saving.

You quickly got dressed and brushed your teeth. From the moment you opened your eyes you were acutely aware of the goal you'd set yourself for the day and that was to complete the last missing medical record of the mystery soldier "König".

Despite your tannoy announcement they were the only one who didn't show up at your office and rather than assuming they ignored you completely you opted to believe the soldier was either busy at the time of your announcement or simply not in the base all together. That was what you hoped was the case at-least.

By the time you'd gotten to the mess hall the majority of the soldiers had finished their breakfast and had gone about their business. Thankfully you'd spotted a couple of familiar faces sitting at the far side table.

Soap was the first to notice you, giving you an enthusiastic wave and gesturing for you to come and join them for breakfast, you were more than happy to oblige.

"Mornin', doc. Good sleep?" Soaps tone was nothing but bright as he picked at the scrambled eggs on his plate.

You gave a smile and a nod, cupping a glass of fresh orange juice between both of your hands,
"Good morning, Soap. As a matter of fact I've not gotten to sleep so quickly in...psh I don't know how long."

Horangi, one of the soldiers you had brought in for a medical the day before, sat to the side of you, his keen hazel eyes studying you.

"You gather the rest of your intel?"

You shot the Korean operative a puzzled look and he grinned in response.

"Your files? Missing medical records? What, you forgot about them already?"

You rolled your eyes, smirking at him and feeling thankful that there were at least a couple soldiers on this base so far that you felt comfortable to have a joke with. You stared into your cup of juice and swilled it around a little, eyeing up your blurred reflection in the surface of the glass.

"I'll have you know, Horangi, that my acquisition of the intel was a success...for the most part anyway."

"Oh?" Soap perked up, his interest obviously piqued.

"I'm missing one last record off the list, then you're all up to date in my files." You confirmed.

"Fifty quid says it's König you're missing?"

You paused briefly and eyed Soap, half suspicious and half impressed at his correct assumption.

"How'd you know?"

"Because the guy didn't show up for any medicals with our previous doctor either. Hell I'm not even sure he met the last doctor and that was despite two months of living on the same base as each other before the poor bastard got K.I.A."

"Oh. He's out in the field a lot then, this König?"
You ask simply, earning a snort from Horangi who was now idly pushing toast crumbs around his plate.

"He's out there no more than the rest of us. It's just the way he is. König is...eh, a bit of a mystery. I've worked with him in KorTac for just over two years now and I still barely know shit about him.."

Horangi noticed the concern on your face and gave you a gentle nudge with his elbow.

"Don't get me wrong, he's a nice guy once he opens up a little...its just getting to that part that's difficult."

You placed your cup down with a heavy thud against the table, resting your head against one of your hands.
"Well that's ridiculous! Surely someone knows something about him! Mystery or not, I need to update his files, as this bases only doctor right now I need as much information on each soldier as possible. Like it or not he's coming to see me today."

You notice Soap and Horangi exchange glances with one another and then back to you, it was as if they'd just made a silent bet with one another on if you'd actually acquire Königs updated records by the end of the day.

You huffed under your breath, crossing your arms.
"At this rate I'm going to have to ask Captain Price to pull rank and force him to my infirmary..."

"Or you can just ask König to come see you for his medical yourself." Soap replied simply.

You shoot him an 'I would if I could' look and raised an eyebrow in confusion when he gave a brief nod of his head to gesture behind you, urging you to turn to look over your shoulder.
That was the first moment you laid eyes on your mystery soldier who had just walked into the mess hall.

You immediately excused yourself and approached König. It wasn't until you got up close to him that you realised just how fucking enormous he was. The man literally towered above you and his face was completely obscured by a sniper hood save for two glacial grey eyes that reminded you of the harsh climate outside of your bases walls.

"König?"

You tried your best to sound polite and professional though it was pretty damn hard when you were having to almost strain your neck to look directly at the man.

"Ja? Can I help you?" König replied, his tone even.

"You can actually..." you smiled briefly before continuing.

"I'm Dove, your new medical officer, I noticed yesterday you didn't come for your medical?"
You noticed the mountain of a man tense slightly as he shifted his weight from one leg to the other.

"Ah."

You waited a couple seconds, hoping there would be more to that response than just ah. There wasn't. You cleared your throat, trying to put on a more stern and professional tone.

"Ahem w-well it's important that we get this medical done, König. You're the only one left with missing details that I need to update."

"Not necessary. I am in fine health."
He replied simply and turned around to leave the mess hall, despite not grabbing any breakfast he was evidently done being in your presence.

Without thinking you grabbed the sleeve of his shirt, he halted immediately, his head snapping back to meet your gaze.

Due to the hood you couldn't get an accurate read on Königs expression and this only served to make you more nervous. You were pretty sure this man could literally snap you in two across his knee like a twig. Thankfully Horangi, God bless him, had noticed you were struggling and sauntered over to the rescue.

"Oi, König, you really gonna disappoint our new doctor?" Horangi grinned, elbowing his enormous team mate playfully.

Königs grey eyes flicked between you and the other soldier, his fingers tapping against the side of his thigh as he seemed to consider what Horangi had said to him before releasing a long sigh which made his hood puff out slightly.

"Fine."

Immediately your eyes lit up and you turned to Horangi who gave you a charismatic grin. At this point König had already begun, rather dejectedly, walking in the direction of the infirmary.

"I'd catch up to him if I were you, before he runs off."

Horangi gave you a playful elbow in your side, you smirked back at him, whispering a quick thank you before rushing out of the mess hall to catch up with König. With legs as long as his, it was a bigger challenge than you expected.